Prose Poetry

That Much I Can Say In terms of an overall number from 1 to 10 on the happiness scale I’d say that if I went back as far as I can remember up to the present day, I’d give myself a 4 overall. I’d give myself a 4 because there were times in my life […]

Anyway It reminded me of the time I was at a high school dance and the pretty young woman I was secretly in love with was standing near the dance floor and I had every opportunity to walk up to her and ask her for a dance but told myself it wasn’t the right time […]

Elements We like to think we’re built of major, minor, and trace elements, which use DNA as the recipe to mix and combine in patterns to make blood, bones, organs, skin,and such. Wrong. We are made of words. Words are in us from birth. As we grow, words take on meanings, so they can be combined and […]

Garcia Lorca and Darwish at the Alhambra de Granada A frail man with a shock of hair and transparent skin shuffles across a red stone courtyard in the heart of Andalusia. Amidst a cluster of buildings, he knows he must find the Citadel, and is drawn right, right, and then left. A Nasrid archway crowned […]

Trinity In the name of the former and of the latter and of their holocaust. Allmen. -James Joyce 1. Los Alamos, New Mexico Theologians exploring crucibles and intersections of faith light upon the fact that Trinity, where the secret gang detonated the Gadget, was likely christened after a verse by John Donne: “batter my heart, […]

Dead Man St. Mark’s Place at dawn, trash blown, summer light’s perfect clarity so good for artists, wasted here. Lower Manhattan, brick walls remain, black-painted window sills. Somehow I thought the old world hanging on here had some right to peace, even if then or now, there was no peace. From Alphabet City I walk, […]

The Spies of Warsaw Cold rain stammers on lines of street bricks, worn ideas in rows, stained with tar or blood; read them at your leisure, coffee smoldering in her cup, your sweater bunched at the elbows. Eye shadow left open on the sink. Of tears there is a novel, or dictionary of smudged intentions. […]

Post navigation

May 2016

Our summer submission period is now OPEN! Please spread the word and head over to Submittable to submit your best work.

Also, we'd like to announce that Jasmine Moore and Madison Parrotta will be interning with us this summer. Both attend Rider University and are quite a strong fit for The Bookends Review. They'll be helping out with reading, editing, and administration, and we couldn't be happier to have them on board. Please welcome them and send in those submissions ASAP :)

The Bookends Review ‘Best of 2015’ Anthology is here!

Click here to preview (and order) a copy. It's available in print, PDF, and ebook formats!

You can also check out the 'Best of 2014' anthology here, as well as the 'Best of 2013' anthology here

Donate!

We would greatly appreciate any donation you can make towards The Bookends Review. Funds will go directly toward maintaining our licenses and layouts, helping us release an annual “Best of” print edition, and ensuring that we grow as a journal in many other ways. With your help, we may even be able to pay contributors and run contests soon!